Draft Zero: A Screenwriting Podcast

What is difference between choice and decision when it comes to audience experience? In our second part of our “series” on Choices and Decisions, we take a deep dive into THE FAREWELL and WRATH OF MAN, with a sidebar on NOMADLAND. In THE FAREWELL, we consider how the choice/decision to lie underpins every sene of the film (to great effect). In NOMADLAND, we consider how using choice and decision is a great way to show how a character doesn’t change. And in WRATH OF MAN, we look at how non-linear narrative - and its decoupling of choice, decisions and consequence (wouldn’t that be a detripling???) impacts the audience experience, especially how we feel about characters. The terminology we settled on in Part 1 was: CHOICE: Are the options presented to the character. DECISION: Is the knowing consideration of the choice and resulting action. CONSEQUENCE: is the resulting outcome from the choice. As always: SPOILERS ABOUND Audio quotations used for educational purposes only. Timestamps indicated below. Chapter m